Johannesburg - ActionSA leader and Joburg mayoral candidate Herman Mashaba says Cosmo City, north of Joburg, is one of the most critical and vital areas for his party due to high levels of crime, high unemployment and drug abuse and that these issues need to be addressed urgently.
Mashaba and his team campaigned in the area on Thursday.
He said he made it clear to his team that they were not out to serve ActionSA but to serve society and that the society would look after them.
He urged voters to come out in their numbers and vote in the local government elections on November 1.
“Let us ensure that we unseat and remove this ANC government that has abused us,” Mashaba said.
He said people lived in villages and because there were no economic activities they flocked to the city under the impression that there were more opportunities. But instead they were condemned to a “city of hell”.
He said ActionSA was the only party that could address such challenges.
“To reduce unemployment, we need to close our borders. We make sure that anyone who is in this country is here legally and, if not, we will hold the Home Affairs Department accountable because you can imagine the number of jobs that are taken by foreign nationals when our own people are not working,” he said.
He added: “I have a feeling that the ANC must be the beneficiary of this criminality that is happening. You can imagine how many ministers I have dealt with in the three years I was a mayor.
“When it was Malusi Gigaba, instead of listening to me he decided to call me xenophobic and insulted me. We have Aaron Motsoaledi now. I have reported him to the parliamentary portfolio (committee) on home affairs, and what has happened? They decided to build their fence that cost R30 million and our borders are wide open.
“South Africa today is the world (capital) of crime. Criminal syndicates, if they want a place to hide, they come here because they will be protected by our own government,” Mashaba said.
He also dared the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) to open a criminal case against him.
“I have requested the IEC to lay charges against me because, in the papers they have filed on Tuesday, one of the claims they are making is that I am unfairly attacking them, so I am not respecting the pledge.
“I said if that is the case, go and lay a criminal case against me because it is a criminal offence to be unfair against the IEC,” said Mashaba.
“I want the IEC to open a case against me. I want to see how far they get.”
He questioned why the party had to abbreviate its name, adding: “They (the IEC) want eight characters and ActionSA has eight.
“Our legal team is working around the clock, and court papers were submitted. This is important for the electorate to ensure free and fair elections,” he said.
Political Bureau